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Walk Around

The Kia Rondo isn't the kind of vehicle you would look at and think seven-seater. That's its beauty. Like the Mazda 5, it takes one small step toward making the minivan obsolete; it will do what a minivan will do, sacrificing a bit of room for more miles per gallon.

The Rondo looks like a cross between a minivan and a five-door hatchback, and not like a small SUV. It has a clean design, with a nicely sloped hood, trapezoidal headlamps with four smooth corners, and a tidy grille that's sort of Acura-shaped. The chin fascia holds projector-beam foglamps on the EX and a dark horizontal air opening below the grille.

The Rondo EX has chrome slats in the grille, chrome door handles and a chrome strip on the side, but the cheaper LX, with a black grille and no chrome on the side, looks cleaner.

The pillars are black, creating an unbroken glass effect with tinted windows. The C-pillar slopes down and back, with the lower rim rising to meet it and shape an upswept three-quarter rear window that offers a decent view for the third-row passengers, although it could be bigger. The rear glass is a simple large rectangle, a bit wider on the bottom and smoothly sloped. It doesn't open separately.

Looking at the Rio from a rear angle, it has an almost BMW-ish resemblance, although the big curved taillamps curve inward like a Volvo wagon or SUV.

Because the Rondo was designed to be roomy on the inside, the wheelbase is long when compared to the total length, making very short overhangs. The five-spoke alloy wheels are simple, silver, and individual, with each of the five spokes having a stylish twist.

Although the Rondo is new to North America, this is its third generation, having been sold in Asia and Europe for years.

Interior

2007 Kia Rondo

Kia says there are 32 different seating configurations in a Rondo with the optional third-row seat, counting all the ways the three rows divide, recline and fold.

Since the roomy seating is what makes the Rondo special, let's start with a tale of the tape: leg room in the front, middle and third rows is 41.3, 38.2 and 31.3 inches, compared to 40.7, 35.2 and 30.7 in the Mazda5, and 41.8, 38.3 and 30.0 in the RAV4. But inches expressed as numbers on a page aren't necessarily conclusive. Indeed, the Rondo feels considerably more roomy than the RAV4.

In the second row, with the sliding seat all the way back, you can extend your legs.

In the third-row seat, we found reasonable knee and head room for our 5-foot, 10-inches, although we had to put our feet together and splay our knees. It's cozy and personal back there; on each side of the third row, there's a good-sized storage bin with a flip-up top like a console, and one cupholder. Kids can put their stuff in there.

The second row is split 60/40, and both sides slide forward to increase legroom in the third row; that's also how you climb back there. The second-row seats recline, as well.

For cargo carrying, both the second and third rows fold flat quickly; the second-row seat cushion folds forward and the seatback flops down, with the headrest flipping back. Each side of each row folds separately, so a long space can be created on one side of the car, suitable for, say, a short kayak. The front passenger seat doesn't fold flat, so you can't fit a long kayak inside. For that, you'd need to purchase the $200 crossbars for the roofrails.

There's good storage space with the third row folded flat or with no optional third row at all. With all the rear seats down, there's a lot of cargo space. With the third row in use, there's only room behind the seat for a couple of brief cases. You can easily reach in and raise or lower the third-row seats through the liftgate.

We drove both the Rondo LX and EX models, with cloth and leather interior. The cloth looks better in gray than beige: less fuddy-duddy. The perforated gray leather seats added a real touch of class, along with $1000 to the price. After a full day of driving, the cloth bucket seats in the LX, our test model, were still comfortable. The Rondo is a great vehicle for a road trip.

In the front seats, the passenger has tons of leg and elbow room, and the comfortable seat reclines if he or she wants to take a nap. The driver's seat is high and affords good visibility; from behind the wheel, the Rondo feels like neither an SUV nor a car, which is what a crossover is about. There's excellent visibility front and rear, with lots of glass so there are no blind spots when looking over your shoulder.

The doors open wide and are easy to open and close, and each has a grab handle nearby. Other cabin touches are well planned, including good lighting, a comfortable armrest for the driver, door pockets with a fixed bulge for a big water bottle, a purse hanger on the right side of the center stack, climate vents for the second row, and other touches.

The dashboard and instrument panel layout and design are sharp and efficient, finished in graphite with orange mood lighting for the gauges. The climate ducts are round and balanced, and the knobs are easy to understand and operate. The leather-wrapped steering wheel on the EX feels great, and there are steering wheel controls, as well.

There's a storage compartment right on top of the dashboard, more convenient for the driver than the good-sized glovebox because it's easily reachable. The automatic shift lever is located up on the center stack, giving more room for the console between the seats, which is deep and square. Forward of the console compartment there are two fixed cupholders and a slot for a cell phone.

The interior is nice and quiet; about the loudest cabin noise comes from the tires over fr

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